


Just Another HS AU

by prodigalson



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, Highschool AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:30:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prodigalson/pseuds/prodigalson
Summary: Seriously I just wanted a johndirk highschool au so im writing my own. go, follow your dreams.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> not gonna lie this is pretty ooc but i need it so shh

“Attention class!” Mr. Kennewick pushed his glasses up his nose as he leaned back against his desk, waiting for the murmur to die down before he spoke, “As you know midterms are coming up in a few weeks and I’ve decided the person with the highest grade won’t be required to take it,” he waited for the excited whispers to subside, “in light of this decision, we will have two more labs before then so those hoping to vie for the top spot have a chance to earn the extra points. If any of you have any questions come see me at my desk; that’s pretty much all I have for today so clean up your stations and you’re free at the bell.” He skirted around his desk and sat down, rifling through innumerous stacks of papers piled chaotically across the desk.

John was pretty confident that he had the highest grade in the class but natural self doubt found him standing in front of his teachers desk.  
“Hey Mr. K, can you tell me where I stand grade wise?”  
He didn’t even look at his computer as he addressed the fidgeting student before him, “You have the second highest grade in class.” John must have had a look of disbelief on his face because the teacher went on to say, “No really, but not by much. Dirk Strider is beating you by 3 points.” John slowly turned to glance back at the boy in question; now the look on his face was definitely that of disbelief. Dirk Strider was the last person he expected to be beating him for top grade in a science class. He was a natural 10; charming, attractive, assumedly funny since the girls who flocked around him were always giggling at everything he said. John felt his eyebrow twitch a bit in irritation as he slumped back to his seat, stealing another glance at the blonde in the back. How is that even fair! No one should be allowed to be good looking, popular AND smarter than the class nerd. Who did he think he was. John felt his cheeks become a bit heated as he stared sideways at Dirk. He quickly looked away and slapped is hands against his cheeks; he must have just been irritated.

Over the next few days John found himself chancing glances at Dirk more and more. He wanted to find some kind of flaw to make himself feel better about being beat by him but he had none. He held doors open for people, he was respectful to the teacher, he never made jokes at other peoples expense; of course his data could only be collected in the one class they shared together and he never saw him at lunch but from what he had observed so far, he was perfect. It was so irritating. John wasn’t particularly prone to melancholy, he had spent his whole life being a loner and the avoided smart kid in class; people only chose him as a partner if they wanted to use him to do all the work. John dreaded group projects but he didn’t feel worried for the upcoming labs, no one ever chose him as lab partner in this class and he usually got to work alone when Mr. K didn’t stick him with another group. Before he realized it he was looking at Dirk again. The blonde was skimming through his science book while the girls who seemed to gravitate towards him chatted vapidly around him. He dropped his chin into his palm on his desk and tsk’ed in annoyance. He felt his cheeks becoming heated again which only annoyed him more. He wondered what Dirk was really like outside of school when he was at home and no one was watching him or fussing over him. Maybe he had some weird collection like puppets or freaky things in jars of liquid. He blinked at the papers on his desk, why was he thinking about Dirk so much? God he couldn't even be properly irritated over the situation because that just meant he’d be thinking about him some more. As he slung his backpack over one arm and headed out of class he was so lost in thought he ran right into the back of someone. He let out a little “oh!” in surprise and looked up to apologize only to see none other than Dirk Strider looking down at him. God was he always that tall too? John looked down at the ground, “um sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” Even though he wasn’t looking at him he could feel Dirk’s charming smile as he spoke, “It’s cool, no worries.” He darted out of class before anyone could see how red his face was. On top of that his heart was pounding, how annoying!! He was starting to feel like taking the midterm wouldn’t really be that big of a deal if he could exchange that for never thinking about Dirk Strider again.

The next day John was wandering around between buildings during lunch, reading a manga he had just picked up when he actually saw Dirk. He was sitting on a ledge eating an apple and looking like he was posing for a photoshoot or something. He continued to stare at his comic while looking at him through peripheral vision. Suddenly there was a girl there and from her exuberant nervousness and intentionally cute stance, John could tell right away what was going on here… a confession. John was walking pretty slow at this point, to the world seeming engrossed in his comic, but really he was listening intently to the exchange. She was a cute girl by anyones standards and John felt a lump forming in his throat; was Dirk about to get a girlfriend? Or maybe he already had one… the thought hadn’t occurred to John before. She stammered out some meek relation of her feelings, something along the lines of “we have that one class together and I’ve always been too nervous to talk to you but I can’t hold my feelings back anymore would you like to be my boyfriend” or some other mundane textbook confession. Dirk got a sympathetic smile on his face and ran a hand through the hair at the back of his head, looking down at the ground in what could almost be described as shyness. His voice was smooth and already manly, unlike most of the guys still going through puberty, but John figured if you were going to get turned down it might as well be by a voice like that.  
“I’m really sorry but I can’t return your feelings. It’s not that you aren’t cute or a special girl; I’m sure you’ll find a guy who treats you like a princess. But, it’s just that I have someone else on my mind right now and I honestly don’t know if it's a crush or what but it wouldn’t be fair to you to waste your time when there’s someone else that I’m thinking about.” She nodded slowly and smiled, “Thank you for being honest… I hope you’ll still talk to me in class!” John knew that he would even though he didn't have a chance to answer before the girl ran off. John had made it across the opening by that time and would have disappeared down a hallway if he hadn’t ran right into the bar between the two open doors. He stumbled backwards a step and shook his head, realizing what had just happened. His whole body went stiff as he heard a very distinct snicker from behind him and knew it could only have come from the one person he wished it hadn’t. His cheeks burned bright red as he stomped down the hallway, not even bothering to turn around and try to laugh off what had happened. What a nightmare. At least he had a class before science to collect himself instead of having to face Dirk straight after that wonderful event.

Luckily Dirk didn’t say anything to him in class and no one was pointing and laughing so he must not have used the incident as a topic of conversation. He was thankful for that but he could feel a lingering blush that betrayed that he was still fighting off embarrassment. That night as he was sitting alone in his room working on homework he found that his mind kept wandering back to Dirk. He wondered who he was interested in; he treated all the girls he talked to the same so there was really no telling. Maybe it was someone from a different class or even someone he knew outside of school. If he were in one of John’s mangas he would definitely be the Prince Type so girls were probably confessing to him all the time. John found himself making that annoyed tsk sound again. Was he… jealous? What exactly did he have to be jealous about? There were no girls at that school he was even remotely interested in so it’s not like girls confessing to him would be anything but a nuisance. So was he jealous over Dirk? That would be ridiculous, they were both guys; why on earth would he be jealous over another guy? I mean it was true that Dirk was perfect, his hair was always meticulously disheveled and the kind of blonde that looks like it was bleached by the sun on some sandy beach somewhere. He had an impeccable sense of style, like he just walked off the pages of some trendy magazine even coordinating colors and nonsense like that. On top of all that he was really actually smart, smart enough to surpass John who prided himself on straight A’s for his entire academic career. The real teeth-grinder was that he was so nice, even when rejecting someone he was still a perfect prince. But despite all that he was a guy. Was it really ok for him to have a crush on another guy? John couldn’t really convince himself why it wouldn’t be ok but he also realized that he didn’t feel this way about any other guys so maybe he wasn’t gay. Maybe there was just something about Dirk that made him catch feelings? That night he fell asleep with a head full of Dirk but instead of irritation he felt something different. He was just coming to accept that this new feeling must have been ‘crushing’ before he was lost to slumber.


	2. 2

Dirk had noticed the small black haired kid who always sat in the front of class since the first day he walked in and saw him sitting there. He looked out of place amongst the rest of the seniors in the class; he was pretty sure he was a freshman but no one he asked seemed to even realize he existed. If he was a freshman he must have been pretty smart to end up in the senior class. 

At any rate Dirk realized that ever since the teacher made the announcement about the midterm, he kept catching him glancing his way. He seemed to recall the teacher calling him John at some point but he wasn’t positive. After putting some thought into the matter he deduced that he probably had the highest grade in class and John was used to taking that spot. Science had always been a strong subject for him but he felt kind of bad that this kid was taking it hard enough to hold a grudge. Maybe he even thought they were nemeses now. He seemed like the kind of kid who would declare someone else their nemesis after finding out they have a better grade. 

Despite how outwardly nerdy he was, he was also pretty cute for a guy. Dirk found himself thinking this at least once every day in science class, sometimes more. Just the way that John did things seemed to be inadvertently cute in nature. When he was thinking about the answer to one of the teachers many questions, he would poke himself in the lip with his pencil eraser and stare off into space with a very serious look on his face; it was adorable. Maybe it was just cause he was a freshman, or at least Dirk thought he was anyway, because freshman seemed to be naturally more childlike and cute in general. He still remembered the time John walked past him reading his comic and was so engrossed he ran into the bar between the doors to the hallway. It was so cute he couldn't help audibly laughing but then he felt bad cause John stormed off; probably miffed that his nemesis saw him do something so embarrassing. 

Dirk had been completely lost in thought and only snapped out of it when the girl sitting in front of him said his name several times, “Do you want to be lab partners??”  
Mr. K must have just told the class to find a lab partner for the first of two labs before the midterm. He felt like the girls in class were taking turns being in his group because a different girl had asked him for every lab so far.  
“Yea sure,” he smiled at her before glancing up at John. He had his head down on his desk and no one was talking to him. He kind of felt bad for him; this happened every lab. Since there was an uneven number of students there would always be a student without a partner and it had been, without fail, John every single time. Maybe the other students didn’t want to be in a group with a freshman or something. He really didn’t seem like a bothersome person, maybe a little nerdy but not unapproachable. He thought for sure there must be girls who were in to the cute type like him.

The next few days passed uneventfully. The girl he was partnered with wasn't particularly gifted in the science department so he felt himself working extra hard to make sure their score was perfect. Normally he wouldn't pay particular attention but for some reason he felt like he needed to give it his all since he was someone’s nemesis now. He almost felt like John had an unfair advantage because he didn’t have to go back and correct someone else’s mistakes on top of completing the packet. 

After the lab was completed and class went back to normal, he noticed a change in John’s behavior. He seemed more flustered in class and didn’t have that mean glint of determination in his eye when he pretended to check the time as an excuse to look back towards Dirk. There was definitely something different there and Dirk couldn’t place exactly what it was. He realized that he was curious, he wanted to know why John seemed to be changing. He couldn’t just ask him though because then John would know that his attention had not gone unnoticed. He didn’t want to embarrass him after all. He did kind of want to talk to him though. How could he go about introducing himself without it seeming weird? As if a lightbulb had turned on in his head he pounding a fist down into his palm, “of course!” Dirk hadn’t really intended on saying that out loud but he was too busy staring off into space having his revelation to notice the people around him staring at him quizzically. 

He bid his time over the next week, preparing for his master plan to go into effect. Finally the day came when Mr. K announced to the class, “It’s time for the last lab before midterms! Pick your partners carefully, there are a couple people close to stealing first place!”

As soon as Mr. K had finished talking Dirk rose from his seat. He became aware that as soon as he did every girl in the class snapped their attention to him. He had never picked a partner before so maybe it was a bit odd. He took a deep breath while walking to the front of the class and grabbed one of the packets for the lab off the teacher’s desk. He wrote his name on the top then turned and walked straight towards John. He had his head down as per usual so Dirk set the packet in front of him. He didn’t seem to notice so Dirk cleared his throat.

Apparently that did it because John shot up as if someone had yelled in his ear. The look on his face went from confusion to disbelief to dread in a matter of seconds. Dirk couldn’t help but smile at the reaction, but he tried to hide it.  
“Do you want to be my lab partner?”  
John’s eyes went huge behind his square framed glasses for a moment before he looked down at the packet in front of him, “Oh…. Um sure,” he managed to stammer out.  
“Cool,” Dirk smiled and nodded towards his seat in the back, “want to go sit back there? I don’t really like being in the front.”  
“Oh,” John looked back at the empty seat next to Dirk’s usual spot then back at his desk as if contemplating the situation, “yea that’s fine…”  
Dirk watched him nervously fumble with his backpack before rising from his seat and walking back to the empty desk.  
“Your name is John right?” The dark haired boy nodded in response. “Aren’t you a freshman? How did you end up in this class?” John’s face immediately went red and Dirk could barely hear his hushed reply, “I’m a junior.”  
“Oh shit sorry… You probably get that a lot huh?” John nodded again; apparently he was shy or something because getting him to talk was proving harder than Dirk thought it would be.

They went over the packet together for the remainder of class without Dirk really learning anything new about the tiny junior. He was thinking about conversation starters for the following day on his way out to the student parking lot. He made it all the way to his car before he heard John exclaim “wait!” from somewhere behind him. He turned to see the junior stop just short of him and double over trying to catch his breath. He waited patiently for him to regain his composure. Finally John stood up straight and fumbled out, “I don’t think we should be lab partners.” His face immediately reddening after his rushed statement. Dirk raised an eyebrow, “why not?”  
John took a deep breath before stammering through his explanation, “Well really it all started when the teacher said the thing about the midterm and I found out you had a higher grade than me. Im usually at the top of the class so I wanted to know how it was possible that someone like you was beating me…” Dirk raised a brow at the ‘someone like you’ part but continued listening, “…so I guess I started watching you to try and find out what kind of person you were because I was determined not to like you but it turned out that you were like a nice person and stuff and I mean everyone thinks you’re attractive of course but you go out of your way to be a good person and I dunno I guess it made an impression on me cause I realized I couldn’t dislike you and that maybe I was actually starting to like you which would have been ok but it went past normal like into something different and I know you’re going to think I’m weird because of this but that's why I think we shouldn’t be partners cause it would be umm hard for me I guess getting to know you when I have unrequited lo-“ His eyes got huge for a second before he looked down at the ground, “f-feelings…but umm could you please not tell anyone because I already have a hard enough time fitting in…” 

Dirk could only stare back at him with a look of surprise on his face. Of all the things he expected him to say that for sure was not one of them. So he was always looking his way because he had a crush on him? Looking back his behavior made total sense with that in mind. He found himself letting out a small laugh despite himself. John immediately went several shades darker red. Dirk reached out and ruffled his messy black hair, “I still think we should be partners. Besides, it’s too late to change now so you’ll just have to bear it somehow.” He was still smiling when the younger boy finally looked up at him, “are you… sure?” Dirk nodded, “yep! So let’s do our best ok?” John got the smallest hint of a smile on his face and nodded, “well I’ll see you tomorrow then I guess.” With that he turned and ran off just as fast as he had appeared and Dirk was left to drive home in deep contemplation. This was unlike any confession he had ever gotten and for once, he was actually incapable of flatly turning the confessor down. He had never had a guy confess to him before and being completely honest with himself he had never considered the fact that he could think about another guy in that way but it was undeniable that he thought John was cute; he had been thinking that long before he and John ever spoke. Was it possible that he had a crush on the younger boy all along too and just didn't realize it? These thoughts consumed his evening and lingered well into the night. He fell asleep feeling oddly excited for the following day when he would see John again and actually have a reason to talk to him.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ._.

When John walked into class the next day he felt an even mixture of anticipation and dread. Dirk was already in his usual spot and smiled at John when he saw him walk in. The friendly greeting helped ease his nerves and as he got closer, the blonde used his foot to push back the chair next to him so John could sit down. The girl sitting in front of Dirk looked back at John with what could only be described as clear and definite stink-eye. She flipped her hair while simultaneously turning her attention to Dirk, “I know you’re like nice to everyone or whatever but you don’t have to be in a group with the freshman just cause you feel bad for him… We can switch partners if you want and work together?”

Dirk furrowed his brow ever so slightly but didn’t visibly lose his cool, “First of all he’s a junior, not a freshman. And secondly I asked him to be my partner cause I wanted him to be my partner, not because I felt bad for him.” John was boring holes into his desk during the exchange but he could feel his cheeks heating up after Dirk’s declaration. He glanced sideways at Dirk as the blonde leaned forward and added in a hushed voice, “Also you should try not to be such a bitch, it’s really off-putting.”

John thought his eyes were going to pop straight out of his face and the girl immediately went white as a sheet before turning around in a huff. He wasn’t sure which of them would pay for that later, but probably both. Dirk seemed completely unfazed; he was already digging the packet out of his bag and putting it on the desk in front of them as if nothing had just happened.

As it turned out they made a pretty good team. They finished almost the entire packet the first day and were completely done 20 minutes into class the next day. John took the packet up to the teacher who stared back at him incredulously.  
“You know this lab was supposed to go until tomorrow… let me go over your packet and if I find any mistakes I’ll hand it back for you two to fix.”  
With that John headed back to his seat and told Dirk what he had said. They were both pretty sure they hadn’t made any mistakes but they both let out an audible sigh of relief when the teacher called them to the front and announced they had gotten every single question correct. 

“I’m not going to lie, I thought for sure there would be at least one mistake. I think perhaps you two would have been more suited for the AP class but I guess it’s a little late for that now. Well this being the case, you’re both excused from class tomorrow; congratulations. Just go clean up your station and you’re free to go.” With that he turned his attention back to his computer and the boys wasted no time cleaning up and making their escape.

Once they were outside Dirk reached over and ruffled his hair again before asking, “should we go get ice cream or something to celebrate?” John felt his face light up and didn’t bother trying to hide it, “yea!”

He was a ball of nerves as he sat silently in the passenger seat of Dirks car. The blonde flipped aimlessly through radio stations as he navigated through their small town, pulling into the baskin-robbins parking lot within a matter of minutes. He fumbled out of the car and made his way towards the entrance. He felt that annoying blush come back as Dirk opened the door for him while flashing a crooked smile. Once inside, they both walked back and forth in front of the ice cream cases milling over which flavor to get.  
“Did you pick one?” Dirk finally asked.  
“Yea, you?”  
“Yep, what are you getting?”  
John put his hands over his cheeks, “it’s too much pressure, what if we picked the same one?” He felt his cheeks heating up.  
Dirk laughed and mussed his hair, “I guess it will be a sign then, huh? Like fate or something,” he continued laughing to himself.  
John got even redder, “now it’s definitely too much pressure!”  
“How about we’ll both say what we picked on the count of three ok?”  
John nodded sheepishly.  
“Alright… 1… 2… 3!”  
They both said “jamoca almond fudge” in unison and John immediately slapped his hands over his mouth while Dirk just blinked then laughed. He was still chuckling to himself as he ordered and paid for their two cones; John still in complete shock and trying to regain his composure. 

Dirk must have sensed his embarrassment because he didn’t mention their fateful choice, instead making small talk and asking about classes and other light topics. John was relieved and easily followed the flow of conversation. It turned out to be pretty easy to talk to the senior; they enjoyed the same subjects in school and both seemed to excel academically. As they walked back towards Dirk’s car, the blonde turned and continued walking backwards as he asked, “so about tomorrow? Since we both have 6th period off… do you want to go do something?”  
“Like a d-d-a date?” John’s heart immediately began pounding out of his chest.  
Dirk smiled and looked down shyly, “yea I guess like a date.”  
John felt a small smile forming as he managed to stammer out, “sure…”

He had definitely never been asked out on a date before and his heart was doing weird fluttery backflips the entire way home. He just barely managed to say, “see you tomorrow,” on his way out of the car and tripped over the sprinkler in the middle of the yard. He caught himself from falling and shyly waved bye to Dirk before slipping into the house. He listened to the sound of Dirk’s car disappearing down the street before running up to his room and throwing himself face down on his bed. He felt so weirdly happy he was sure his entire body was going to implode at any moment. He laid in bed at least 2 hours that night trying to fall asleep before his mind finally became distracted enough to drift off.

The next day he woke before his alarm went off and rushed through his morning routine with added excitement. He even made a conscious effort to match his clothes that day, pairing a navy blue cable knit sweater with dark-colored jeans and low-top navy blue vans. He felt completely flustered looking in the mirror, having little to no experience with actually trying to look good. All the way to school his heart was racing and he was helpless to calm himself down through his first five classes. When 6th period rolled around he found himself forcibly walking calmly to the student parking lot where he found Dirk leaning against his car, messing around on his phone. He wondered if the blonde had purposely dressed up for the occasion. His outfit wasn’t anything particularly special but he did manage to look more attractive than usual in a black hoodie, acid washed jeans and black high-top nikes. He was wearing a black snap-back with his hood pulled up halfway covering his head and he looked up and smiled as John approached.  
“Ready?” he inquired without the hint of nervousness.  
John nodded, “so where are we going?”  
“It’s a surprise,” Dirk said with that boyish smile still on his face as he opened the passenger door for John.

He guessed nonsensical places the whole way to their destination, each more absurd than the last, which left Dirk laughing. Somehow the fact that he made the older boy laugh made John feel even happier than he already did and he looked out the window to hide the unavoidable blush he seemed cursed with whenever in Dirk’s presence. It soon became apparent that Dirk was taking him to the aquarium. Although it seemed like a relatively cliché ‘First Date Destination’ he was still genuinely happy with the choice.

As Dirk pulled into a parking spot near the entrance, John took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled out his mouth, trying to calm himself down. The blonde shoved his keys in his pocket before looking over, “Ready?”


	4. 4

When he had asked John if he wanted to do something during their free period he hadn’t initially intended it to be a date, but as soon as the dark-haired boy had nervously asked if it was Dirk felt no hesitation in deciding he was for it being one. For the first time in his life he actually felt semi nervous about taking someone on a date and the pressure to make it successful began to weigh down on him immediately. He had less than 24 hours to come up with plans so he went with an obvious choice since he guessed that the younger boy had probably never been on a date anyway. There was also the plus of having never actually been to the new aquarium in town that had been finished several months prior.

When John finally found him in the parking lot after school he actually felt a bit flustered when he saw him. He was wearing a dark blue sweater that made his eyes shine a more vibrant blue than usual and it took Dirk some effort not to stare. It was cute how John tried to guess where they were going when he told him it was a surprise. The outrageous places he was guessing just confirmed that he was, in fact, a huge dork. Dirk found it really endearing. He was glad to see that the parking lot was fairly empty at the aquarium so they wouldn’t have to deal with much of a crowd. Despite being so outwardly popular at school, Dirk actually didn’t handle large crowds well and usually went into pokerface mode when he was forced to deal with them; a great coping mechanism, but not so great for trying to get to know someone.

He popped his keys into his pocket and looked over at the visibly nervous junior, “ready?”

John nodded. They got out and headed towards the ticket booth. He was actually pretty excited to check this place out as he had always loved the ocean. John’s enthusiasm over his choice was undeniably adorable and reassured him that there wouldn't be any awkwardness given that this was a first time experience for both of them.

John got excited over each new exhibit and Dirk caught himself thinking how cute it was every time it happened. They were sticking their hands in the interactive tide pool exhibit before Dirk finally became aware of any of the other people around them. He got that pinprick feeling on the back of his neck that someone was staring at him and he glanced up to see two girls looking in their direction while giggling to themselves. He wanted to pull John on to the next exhibit but he seemed to be having a lot of fun trying to touch a stingray. In the end Dirk couldn’t bring himself to interrupt him.

Unfortunately his instincts had been correct and when he glanced up again the girls were approaching them. He turned his attention to John, hoping that might dissuade them but they interjected none the less.  
“Um excuse me? We were wondering if you guys wanted to hang out with us?”  
John looked up having only just noticed them for the first time and Dirk saw the slightest look of concern cross his face as he looked from the cute girls who suddenly appeared to Dirk. There really was no gentle way of getting out of the situation so he decided to just put things bluntly and get it over with. He hooked his arm around John’s neck, pulling him close before smiling the most charming smile he could muster and clarifying, “Sorry ladies, we’re actually on a date and I don’t really want to share him with anyone so we’re going to have to decline.”  
Both girls immediately blushed and one began fanning her face while she stifled a giggle. Her friend pushed her back across the room while apologizing profusely for butting in (and for her friend) meanwhile John hid his face in his hands. 

Dirk chuckled as he looked down at John, “You aren’t mad at me are you?”  
Without uncovering his face John muffled, “of course not,” before wiggling out of Dirks grasp. He smiled and watched John return to his mission in the tide pool, his face still visibly red. He couldn’t help but think his blushing was increasingly appealing; he had never made anyone as flustered as he seemed to constantly make John and who wouldn’t start to fall for someone under those circumstances?

As far as dates go this one turned out to be pretty successful. They both seemed to enjoy themselves and John never let his nervousness impede their conversation. He felt like he was really starting to get to know the younger boy who he found he had more in common with every time they talked. When they made it to the gift shop he quickly bought two little matching stingrays like the ones John had been trying to touch in the petting pool as the other used the restroom. He waited until they were sitting in front of John’s house to give him his. The dark-haired boy stared at it in the palm of his hand with visible gratitude. Dirk couldn’t help himself and he ruffled that messy black hair again. He never guessed it would be so easy and natural to fall for another guy but then again he had never been in a situation for it to happen before. For a split second he thought he might kiss the younger boy but his stomach did a flip and the moment passed. Instead he smiled and said, “I had fun.” John immediately blushed and said he did too and they left the night at that. Before he got out of the car though, Dirk asked if he could have his cell phone number. John stammered it out before fumbling out of the car. He trotted across the lawn, hands in his pockets, then disappeared into his house.

As soon as he got home he texted his new contact and said they should hang out again. Dirk stared down at his phone for a good 3 minutes waiting for a reply but none came. He flopped down onto the couch and laid his phone on his face before letting his arms fall to either side. Finally his phone buzzed on his face and he snapped it up as fast as his reflexes allowed him.

From: Bro  
hey im not gonna make   
it home this weekend   
get laid <3

Dirk smirked at his phone before letting out an audible sigh. Why wasn’t it from John, so lame. His phone buzzed again and he unlocked it expecting a follow up joke to his older brother’s ‘get laid’ comment but his breath caught in his throat for a second as he realized it was from John.

From: JohnE  
For sure! But… only if   
you really want to, don’t   
feel obligated!!

Dirk had a brow quirked as he typed his response, feeling like he had shown an ample amount of interest on their date earlier.

To: JohnE  
john i had fun,  
im not trying to be nice   
im trying to monopolize   
your time so if anything   
i guess you could say im   
being pretty selfish   
actually

From: JohnE  
Oh hehe well in that case  
I guess we should hang  
out again!

Dirk smiled at his phone like an idiot. Then he remembered his brother had just said he wouldn't be home that weekend. It was the perfect opportunity to invite John over because although he knew his brother was awesome and he definitely looked up to him, he didn’t want him anywhere near John until they had figured out what was going on between them. John was definitely his brother’s type as far as guys went and the last thing he needed was for his bro to come sweep John off his feet before Dirk could even figure out how he felt about him.

To: JohnE  
how about this weekend?  
my place?

From: JohnE  
Oh ok yea sounds fun :B

Judging by the goofy text emote it was clearly a hard yes. Perfect. Dirk tried to think of what they could do but his mind kept wandering back to one specific thing that caused his cheeks to light up ever so slightly. He had only ever done stuff with girls, could he just use the same moves on a guy or was he starting back at Zero Experience. He pondered this as he was falling asleep and consequently found himself dreaming about John that night.


	5. 5

John felt perfectly fine when he woke up that morning but as the day crawled on his nerves gradually frayed to the point of being a nervous wreck by the time he walked into his last class of the day. He and Dirk had decided to go hang out at Dirk’s place after class and despite his repeated mantra of ‘it will be fine, you can do this, no big deal’ he realized as soon as he saw the handsome blonde that he was not fine, he was pretty sure he couldn’t do this, and it was undoubtedly the biggest deal of his mere 17 years of existence. He was going to be in Dirk’s house, alone, with no one there but Dirk. He was probably going to see Dirk’s room (although he admitted that was probably a little too much to hope for considering he was still pretty sure the romantic aspect of his feelings were one sided). It was true that he and Dirk got along remarkably great the few times they had hung out together outside of school and he would be lying if he denied that they had a lot in common; but being friends with someone and dating someone were two completely different things. The mere thought of something happening between the two of them was enough to make his heart leap into his stomach and somehow simultaneously become lodged in his throat. He tried to calm himself down as he sat in his, now regular, seat next to the senior lest he make himself nauseous and ruin everything.

He was so transfixed on the coming event that he honestly had no idea what they learned in class that day. He went through the motions but his brain was completely consumed with various scenarios of how the afternoon would go, most of which left him blushing. When the bell rang he nearly jumped out of his skin and sent his pencil flying. He noted that Dirk chuckled under his breath before retrieving his wayward pencil despite desperately hoping he hadn’t noticed.

He meant to act casual and nonchalant as they left class together but instead he stared at his feet all the way to Dirk’s car and then remained transfixed on the glove box the entire way to his house. If he had needed to find Dirk’s house again he would honestly have no idea which direction he was even supposed to head in. It wasn’t until the car came to a stop and Dirk rolled down his window that he looked up. For some reason, they were pulled up to a gate in front of an enormous house and Dirk was entering a code into a little black box.  
“Don’t tell me this is where you live?! Heh this is like a joke right?”  
Before Dirk could answer the gate began rolling open and John just stared in wide eyed disbelief as the other’s silent smirk went unnoticed.  
“Dirk… your house is huge! You never said you were filthy rich!”  
Dirk shrugged, “You never asked?”  
John just stared at him a bit slack-jawed and in complete awe.  
“Are your parents like famous scientists or do you come from family wealth or something??”  
The blonde shrugged, “Actually I live with my brother. He’s a famous director but he goes by a stage-name I guess you’d say? He wanted to try and give me a normal life but then I kind of got certified as a genius when I was 6 so I shot that straight to shit but I still went through normal schooling so I could try to seem normal. Honestly I think part of the reason I did it was to make my brother feel better; I know he wanted me to have a normal life and normal experiences.”  
John just stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief. How could he not know such important facts about the person he supposedly was in love with?  
“Don’t stare at me like that, I feel like I have to start acting like I’m on an episode of cribs or something if you keep giving me that look,” Dirk smirked and John blinked several times, trying to wrap his head around the situation.  
“S-sorry…” John looked down at the ground as they got out of the car and headed towards the elaborate entrance.  
“No, it’s fine I was just making a joke,” Dirk ruffled his hair, “but I totally can narrate this experience if you want.”  
John smiled and looked up at the blonde shyly, he appreciated that the other was trying to ease his nervousness but there probably wasn’t anything he could actually say to calm down his heart that was trying to violently beat out of his chest.

The inside was even more impressive than the exterior. It had vaulted ceilings and an incredibly excessive chandelier hanging in the entryway. The whole place had the feel of being professionally decorated by an interior designer. There were even fancy looking tassels on the ropes holding open the drapes. It was really unlike any house John had ever seen. He fully expected to see a maid or a butler lurking somewhere but all he was greeted with was the eerie echo that accompanied huge, uninhabited buildings.

Dirk pointed to various rooms as they made their way through the interior while stating their names, such as ‘living room’, ‘dining room’, ‘superfluous living room’, ‘kitchen’, ‘room full of terrible movies that was probably supposed to be a library’, he continued like this until he stopped in front of a closed door. John peered around him curiously as they came to a sudden stop. Dirk turned around as he placed a hand cautiously on the door knob.

“So… this is my room-” John immediately stiffened, “-but mostly it’s my, hm.. robolab I guess? I build robots. And since that’s pretty much all I do in my spare time I just kind of threw a bed in here and called it good. Try not to be alarmed at anything you see in here… it’s pretty much a huge clusterfuck of nonsense.”

John stared with growing anticipation as Dirk opened the door dramatically slow. As he inched into the room he noted how incredibly different it was from the rest of the house. It had relatively low lighting aside from the lamps that shown brightly on one of the desks in the back of the room. Dirk hadn’t been joking about it being cluttered. There were what John could only assume were various robot parts everywhere; gears, wiring, metal scraps, a giant robotic arm attached to a table and other unknown objects littered every surface. Most notably was a giant disassembled robot on the back desk whose face had an uncanny resemblance to Dirk’s. There was also a pair of ridiculous pointy shades on said desk that kept glinting strangely as if non-existent eyes were following John’s every move. It was kind of freaky actually and he turned towards a different part of the room to avoid having to think about it. Dirk’s ‘bed’, if you could call it that, was just a mattress thrown on the floor in the corner with only a fitted sheet, a wadded up blanket and a heap of clothes at the end. Definitely not what he had pictured when he thought about Dirk’s bedroom.

The entire time John had been taking in everything in the room, Dirk stood silently behind him with his hands in his pockets, completely deadpan. John couldn’t read what he was thinking at all so he jokingly surmised, “so your robolab is how you get all the ladies, eh?”

Dirk did that thing where he ran his fingers through his hair while looking away shyly, “you’re kind of the first person I’ve ever had over, definitely the first person I’ve shown my room to.”

John felt his cheeks heating up, his assumptions of Dirk once again shattered, “but I thought you were like mister popular or something? Haven’t you dated a ton of girls?”  
Dirk shrugged and put his hands back in his pockets, “I mean I’m not exactly inexperienced in that department or whatever but I’ve never been serious enough about someone to bring them to my house, let alone let them see how weird I actually am.” He nodded in the general direction of the workstations.

John became even more flustered at the implication that he was someone Dirk might be serious about in any way, romantic or otherwise, “You’re not weird at all, this stuff is really cool! I wish I had a secret lab full of technologically advanced mechanisms at my house; all I have is a crappy old computer that still runs windows and a broken xbox 360.”

Dirk let out a small laugh then motioned towards the door, “you wanna go watch a movie or something? We have basically a theater sized screen near the back of the house with the tacky red seats and everything.”

John immediately lit up, “Do you have any Nicholas Cage movies??”

Dirk laughed again, “Yea I’m sure we do, we can watch whatever you want.”

John followed him out of the room, excitement over the home theater room briefly taking place of his overwhelming nervousness. Not only did he get to spend time with Dirk but they were going to watch a Nicholas Cage film on a big screen? Best. Day. Ever.


	6. 6

So far bringing John to his house hadn’t been a complete disaster. There were a couple lame jokes to hide insecurities at the start but John actually said his robot shit was cool! At first Dirk was worried that John wasn’t going to recover from finding out how wealthy he and his brother were but the prospect of watching a movie on a big screen seemed to thrill him out of whatever awkward state he had been in prior. Dirk wanted to do something to help John calm down but he wasn’t really sure where to start. He wanted things to be easy like they had been at the aquarium. Ever since they went he had felt like something was missing when he wasn’t around John. Like he had suddenly realized that all those years before he had actually been really lonely and only discovered it when he found someone he really clicked with. He couldn’t deny that him and his brother had been really close growing up but ever since Dave became successful he was gone more often than he was home and Dirk had spent his years in high school mostly left to his own devices.

At first Dirk had been afraid he wouldn't be able to return John’s feelings; now he feared his feelings for John were surpassing his for Dirk and the thought of John losing interest terrified him. Most of all he wondered how he was ever going to get the nerve to actually kiss the guy. And did John even want him to? Maybe he hadn’t fully understood the implications of confessing to Dirk. Maybe he really just admired him or something and confused it for love. He said himself that he had never dated anyone or anything like that so it was entirely possible that he didn’t even know what attraction felt like.

They were ass-deep in some ridiculous movie about some guy stealing the declaration of independence before Dirk chanced a look over at the dark-haired boy. He was watching the movie intently with a look on his face that could only be matched to a kid in a candy shop. It was really cute. Before he could stop himself, Dirk felt a doofy smile spreading across his face.  
“You want some popcorn?”  
John didn’t look away from the screen as he whispered, “yea!”

Dirk shuffled to the kitchen, still sporting the remnants of a smile when he rounded the final corner and stopped dead in his tracks. There, standing in the kitchen in his signature black suit with a phone to his ear and shades glued to his face, was his older brother in all his majestic fucking glory. Dirk just stood staring at him for several moments before Dave noticed him and jutted his chin up in a half nod as a way of greeting while still conversing with whoever was on the other end of the line.  
Dirk finally uprooted his feet from the hardwood floor and forced himself to make a bowl of popcorn as inconspicuously as he could possibly manage. Just as he was emptying the popped bag into a bowl Dave got off the phone and turned his attention towards Dirk, leaning on the counter as he slipped his phone into his pocket, “sup.”  
“Nothing… just watching a movie with a friend from school.”  
Dirk thought he almost saw his brother’s eyebrows rise but his brother never showed any real emotion not fueled by irony so it was hard to be sure.  
“You’re watching a movie,” he stated without a follow up so Dirk assumed it must have been a question.  
“Yes.”  
“With a friend”  
“Yes…”  
“That you made at school.”  
“Yes?”  
Dave stared at him or at least Dirk assumed he was staring, it was hard to tell since he always had his aviators on regardless of time or place.  
“Is it a girl? Are you actually trying to get laid?? I mean I was kidding but who am I to cock block my baby bro, more power to you lil man!”  
“Bro! His name is John and you’re getting carried away with your assumptions again.”  
“Ooo Dirk you little Casanova I didn’t know you swung that way”  
“What? No. Dude. We’re just hanging out calm down before he hears you and flips off the handle or some shit.”  
“Oh my bad, my bad… still in denial I guess ah well c’est la vie; unless you’re watching a chick flick about your secret celebrity crush then there’s no denying that smile on your face when you didn’t know anyone was looking was pure fucking unadulterated infatuation my man.”

Shit. Dave had seen him and his shit idiot smile. He was going to want to meet John now. Dirk couldn’t see any plausible reason for delaying the inevitable but he did not want, under any circumstance, his hot, charming older brother to meet the only person he had ever wanted for himself.  
“I thought you were gonna be gone this weekend?”  
“Yea but my flight got delayed so I’m leaving at like 3am; I knew I should have bought that plane a few months back I wonder if it’s still for sale… so do I get to meet him?”  
“Hm better not.”  
“And why is that? Is he cute? Is he 18?”  
“Bro! This is exactly why you can’t meet him and no he’s 17 so keep your meat claws in your pocket perv.”  
Dave threw his hands in the air, “alright, alright; I’m not a fan of jailbait anyway so looks like he’s all yours lil man. Can I meet him if I swear on my katana not to say anything suggestive or at all implying that he is attractive or that you have a huge crush on him?”  
Dirk felt his eyebrow twitch, “Fine. After the movie.” 

With any luck his bro would get bored and go out before he had a chance to meet John. Dirk found his luck had not held up that day though because the movie had not been over a full minute before Dave waltzed through thrown open double doors like some kind of diva douchebag. John almost jumped into the seat next to him he had been so startled. Dirk laughed despite himself before shooting his brother a menacing look.  
“John this would be my overly dramatic brother, Dave. Dave, John.”

Dirk could have willed the floor to open up and swallow his brother whole as he watched him saunter over to John and do a partial bow while bringing the juniors hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles while maintaining a defiant smirk. Johns face immediately turned a shade of red he had not yet seen and almost instinctively Dirk shot up from his seat, standing a lot faster than he had intended.

“Alright, you met, that’s enough for today… or maybe the year” he grabbed the back of his brother’s jacket and dragged him out of the room. In the hall Dirk spun Dave around and gave him a shove back the way he came just for good measure, “Congratulations you met and I’ll be expecting a broken sword from you in the near future have a safe trip.”

Before he turned to go back in the movie room Dave gave him a look of mock-horror but he didn’t stick around for banter. He shut the double doors behind him before apologizing profusely for his brother’s theatrics.  
“Heh it’s fine… is he always like that?”  
“More or less”  
John laughed meekly, “no wonder you never bring anyone over…”  
They both laughed and Dirk gave an over-exaggerated shrug.  
“He’s awesome but he can be a pain in the ass; I do owe him a lot though that’s for sure”

The conversation trailed off and Dirk got the feeling again like it was his chance to make a move. After a heartbeats’ thought he realized he didn’t have the confidence to just lean over and kiss him. He looked at the floor as he felt his cheeks becoming warm.  
“Hey John?” He glanced sideways at him.  
“Yea? What’s up?” His eyes were shining bright blue and wide with curiosity, Dirk had to look back at the floor, “can I… kiss you?”


	7. 7

“We c-c-can’t!!” John’s eyes darted to the door, so he missed Dirk freezing in place and his wide-eyed confusion. His attention was snapped back to Dirk as he rose from his seat and, facing away from him, muttered in a defeated voice, “sorry, I didn’t mean to make things weird…”

“N-no it’s not like that!” John felt his face flush again as he jumped to his feet, having barely recovered from Dirk’s brother. Dirk glanced sideways at him, only half his face visible but he looked miserable in that instant.

“I just… what if your b-b-brother c-came back in,” John couldn’t control his nervous stutter as he stood wringing his hands, his eyes shooting from Dirk to the door. Dirk immediately turned on him, a new light in his eyes, “Is that all? God John!”

Before he knew what was going on Dirk had a firm grip on his wrist and was dragging him back through the house. John’s feet had apparently decided to temporary not work because he was left fumbling behind the blonde, using all his coordination to not fall to his knees. He wasn’t exactly sure why his legs felt like noodles but it was making the whole process a lot harder.

Dirk practically shoved him into his room and shut the door behind them. When Dirk turned to face John his chest was heaving as if he were out of breath. John became aware that he was holding his own breath and let it out with an audible huff. Then Dirk was inching towards him, as if time had slowed down. His slender hand raised and came to rest on John’s jawline, his thumb running lightly over the ridge of John’s cheekbone. He was thankful for the dim light because his face was on fire and he couldn’t shake the deer-in-the-headlights look off his face. And then Dirk’s face was right there in front of him and he noticed perhaps for the first time that his eyes were a strange orange color like fresh squeezed orange-juice and shining from some light at the back of the room. How had he not realized the odd color of Dirk’s eyes before? The blonde stopped an inch from his face, looking down at John’s lips as John felt his hot breath on his nose and lips. What was he waiting for? John blinked several times then the thought occurred to him that he might have been waiting for John. He let his eyelids fall shut as he closed the last bit of space between them, electricity flying through his whole body as their lips made contact. Dirk gently placed his free hand on the other side of John’s face, letting their lips come together like puzzle pieces. Without really realizing it, John grabbed handfuls of Dirks shirt and melted into the kiss. It was sweet and innocent and lasted mere moments. Dirk pulled away and made a ‘heh’ sound as the corners of his mouth curled into a grin. John’s hands flew to his face as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

“That was… nice,” Dirk said in a hushed tone, his smile audible in his words.

John could only nod. It had been nice. Really, really nice. He wanted to do it again. He wanted to kiss Dirk a million times. He wanted to kiss him every day for the rest of his natural life. These newfound thoughts sent his heart reeling and he thought his face might actually melt off from how hot it felt. Then Dirk’s hands were on his wrists, gently pulling them down before he leaned in and kissed him again. A swarm of butterflies danced circles in John’s stomach as he fell into the kiss again. He threw his arms around Dirk’s neck, pressing his lips harder into the other boys. He was surprised at himself for how bold he was being but electricity fueled him and he wanted more. In an instant Dirk was leading him backwards, pushing him down onto the mattress in the corner of the room. John’s heart faltered and sprang to life with renewed vigor, trying once again to beat from his chest. He had no idea what he was doing. He had even less of an idea of what Dirk was doing. The blonde lightly pushed him onto his back before leaning over him, kissing him again. This time he experimented with running his tongue smoothly across John’s upper lip as they kissed. John gasped and Dirk seized the opportunity to flick his tongue into his open mouth, playing with John’s tongue for a moment before pulling back and kissing him again. John hadn’t realized he was clutching Dirk’s shirt again but he came crashing back to reality as Dirk’s bedroom door swung open. They both turned in complete surprise to find Dave leaning in,  
“I fucking knew it you little shit liar.”

Dirk sat up bolt straight without taking his eyes off his brother while John threw his hands over his face.

“Good god Bro can’t you fucking knock?!”

Dave cocked his head and put a pointer to his cheek, “well how was I to know you’d be in here making a move on your ‘just a friend from school,’ hmm? You have no one to blame but yourself. Well anyway I’m heading out to run some errands before I leave so you kids try not to have too much fun ok?” He got the biggest shit-eating grin on his face before shutting the door as suddenly as he had opened it.

John laid there in shock as Dirk apologized again for his brother. And then they were both laughing, John from behind trembling hands and Dirk with his head bent, his hand covering his own mouth. He stood and offered a hand to help John up, which he accepted gratefully and straightened out his shirt and hair once he was standing.

“I guess I should probably take you home since I have an appointment to die from embarrassment here shortly…”

John let out a short laugh and gave a nod, “Yea I have a similar event going on later and I need to go take a long cold shower first to make sure I’m ready.” That made Dirk do his cute little smirk again and John looked down shyly.

They were pretty quiet on the ride back to John’s house only this time he stared out the window, taking in his surroundings as they drove. It turned out that Dirk didn’t actually live that far from him but it was an area he never had occasion to go to before. Dirk pulled up in front of John’s house and the two nervously glanced towards each other. John didn’t have time to decide what he was going to do before Dirk leaned over and kissed him square on the mouth right there for god and everybody to see (although there wasn’t actually anyone watching).

“Heh… see you later,” John stammered out before dumping himself out of Dirk’s car and jaunting awkwardly towards his house. He stopped with one foot through the front door and turned back to wave bye to Dirk, who shot a hand up in return before driving off.

John did exactly as he said he was going to and went straight for a cold shower. It was refreshing but not exactly helpful as his mind shot back to Dirk’s lips anytime he closed his eyes to let the water run over his face. Once he finished and shuffled back to his room he fell backwards onto his bed staring at the ceiling in disbelief. It actually happened. He actually kissed Dirk frickin Strider. The Prince of 6th Period Science and apparent boy genius. Never in a million years did he imagine this day ever happening nor had he thought his first kiss would be from a guy. His heart hadn’t stopped palpitating since it happened and he felt like it would never beat normally again.

The thought didn’t even occur to him that he should probably text Dirk; his mind was already going a million miles a minute thinking other thoughts about the senior. Dirk didn’t leave his mind even as John drifted off to sleep and he spent the night dreaming about his face, his lips, his smooth hands on his face. His mind, even subconsciously in the confines of sleep, was completely consumed by Dirk.


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is it guys, I have another fic in my head I want to work on... I might add more to this later but for now I think this is a good place to leave it :)

As Dirk lay on his shitty mattress on the floor, all he could think about was John. At first it was all good things. Like how much he had liked kissing him and how much he just liked John in general. But gradually, as his excitement diminished, he began to have more reflective thoughts about him; thoughts like how he hadn’t really said anything on the drive home and how he wasn’t texting him at all even though they had parted ways several hours ago. Being the kind of person who wasn’t really used to ‘pursuing someone’, the thought of texting first never even occurred to him. Did he not enjoy the kiss? Nah he definitely enjoyed the kiss, it was written all over his face, all his tells were there. Maybe he was having second thoughts after having time to chill away from the situation? Things did happen pretty fast and he might have gone a little too far for John’s comfort considering he had probably never even kissed anyone before.

He sat up and decided to work on his most recent project to take his mind off things. He slumped over to his workstation and turned the various lights to shine on the robotic arm lying before him. He tinkered around with it for hours, John only skirting the edges of his thoughts but staying mostly at bay. He checked his phone about every half hour but no messages came. He finally flopped into bed sometime past 2 am and forced himself to sleep. 

It was a restless night where he woke several times and never managed to dream about anything, or if he had he didn’t remember when he woke the next morning feeling more tired than when he went to bed. He checked his phone as soon as he was able to focus his eyes but the only text was from his brother, saying he had made it to his destination in one piece. He sent him a thumb’s up emoji then dropped his phone and rolled over. He lay in bed another two hours, staring at the wall with unseeing eyes, his brain making up all kinds of intrusive, terrible scenarios involving John breaking Dirk’s, apparently fragile, heart.

The rest of the weekend passed much in this fashion. By the time he got to class on Monday he was feeling like absolute trash. He had his emotionless face on the entire day and hadn’t spoken more than a few words and only when necessary. When John walked into class he sat next to Dirk like usual, resting his chin on his palm and focusing on the blackboard as he let out a yawn. Dirk was slumped back in his seat with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at his desk. When it became apparent that John wasn’t going to talk to him he felt like his worries were being confirmed. His face darkened without him really realizing it, unable to hold his straight face as his feelings stewed and boiled over.

As soon as the bell rang he shot out of his seat and made for the door with his bag swung over his shoulder. He thought maybe he had heard John say either ‘huh’ or ‘hey’ but he wasn’t really sure, he just wanted to get out of there. The mad rush of people pushing past him only made his heart race and he practically broke into a jog when he reached the parking lot, feeling like getting out of their as soon as possible was absolutely necessary to his ability to continue breathing. He felt his palms getting sweaty as he raced home, not feeling like he could breathe properly until he was safely behind the closed door of his bedroom. He dropped his phone on his bed before going to sit at his familiar workstation, burying his face in his hands as he propped his elbows on the table. He squeezed his eyes shut as he clenched his jaw, absolutely positive he had somehow fucked everything up. He was so consumed in his own self-deprecation that he didn’t even hear his phone buzz on his bed. He missed the second and third buzzes as well. By the time he convinced himself to get up and just pass out for a bit, he fell into bed having forgotten his phone even existed. He fell asleep in his clothes on top of his comforter, a magazine, the left shoe to a pair of old converse and several clean shirts.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John stared at his phone. He had sent three texts since he got home and Dirk hadn’t so much as bothered to look at them. What the hell was he thinking? He had ignored John all through class and left without so much as a fuck you buddy, let alone saying bye. John chewed on it all the way home and couldn’t for the life of him figure out what could have happened between Friday and Monday to make Dirk dislike him to the point of pretending he didn’t exist.

The way he saw it he had two options. He could accept that their (extremely) brief fling was at an end, go back to his old seat, and pretend right along with Dirk that the other didn’t exist. Or, he could throw on his jacket and march his irritated ass right on over to Mr. Fancypant’s iron gate and ask him what the hell he was thinking. He was already out the door by the time he realized he had decided to do it and he used his adrenaline rush to trudge onward, becoming more annoyed with every step.

By the time he found his way to the right house he was in an absolute uproar. Usually he was pretty mild when it came to, well, everything but for whatever reason, maybe because Dirk had gotten his hopes so high, he was taking this really personal. He found the little black call box and pressed the button that he assumed would summon Dirk. He didn’t just press it once, he held it in and planned on continuing to hold it down until Dirk appeared. It took a total of 10 minutes before he saw Dirk appear around the corner of the entry way and make his way down to the gate, hands in his pockets and a look of bewilderment on his face.  
“What are you… doing here?”  
“What am I doing here? What the hell do you mean what am I doing here?! You think you can just kiss me one minute and forget I exist the next?? No. Not without some kind of explanation anyway and besides that I sent your big dumb idiot self three texts with no reply, you could have blown yourself up working on one of your freaking awesome robots for all I knew!! What am I doing here! You have a lot of fucking nerve Dirk Strider now open this damn gate so I can punch you in your stupid perfect face!”

Dirk just stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief. His cheeks even turned a little red and he reached forward, pressing some unseen button that caused the gate to begin sliding open with a rattle and the sound of grinding metal. Before John had a chance to bring his clenched fist up in a striking position Dirk had stepped forward and wrapped his arms around John, putting a hand on the back of his head and holding it and the rest of him as close as he possibly could.

John’s words were muffled as he flatly asked, “uh, what the hell are you doing.”

Dirk laughed. Not the quick, short laugh John was used to; he actually threw his head back and laughed out loud. Now John was the confused one.

“You didn’t text me all weekend, I thought you were the one that decided I didn’t exist…” Dirk was still kind of laughing as he said it but he loosened his grip on John to the point he was able to press back and stare at Dirk incredulously.

“What the heck Dirk? I’m sorry was the fact that I completely fucking swooned when you kissed me not enough to convince you how I feel about you?? You seem to be the one forgetting that I’m the one who loves you.” He had said it with confidence but once he realized what he said he shot a hand over his mouth, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Dirk just laughed again and grabbed the sides of John’s face, holding him there while he placed kisses all over his cheeks, nose and finally his mouth. John knew for sure his face was one big sheet of red but he didn’t stop him.

“So you mean we’re good then?” Dirk seemed almost childlike as he asked sheepishly.

“Obviously! God and I thought I was the insecure one of the two of us… how could I possibly make it any more obvious??”

Dirk’s face was turning red again, “I dunno… I guess you could agree to be my… uh… boyfriend…” he seemed to have a little difficulty getting the words out but John hardly noticed when he realized what he was asking. He immediately buried his face in Dirk’s chest to hide his embarrassment. His voice was muffled again when he quietly said, “of course I will.”


End file.
